Who Is Clara Oswald?
by TimeLordPrime
Summary: Just who is Clara Oswald really? Could it be that the Doctor never actually figured out her true mystery after all? What is the true secret of Clara Oswald and how will it bring the Doctor's entire world crashing down around him? Set in an AU version of Dark Water and based on my own speculation about Death in Heaven so don't read this if you haven't already seen it.
1. The True Clara Oswald

WHO IS CLARA OSWALD?

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Author's Note: Obviously this shouldn't be read unless you've seen Dark Water as it's filled with spoilers based on that story. So don't read any further if you haven't seen it yet. This is a very AU story based on Dark Water and my own speculations about Death in Heaven. It's basically me tweaking what happened in the first story and changing it up a bit based on the idea that maybe someone else besides Missy might have turned out to be the Master instead. Maybe it could have been someone that the Doctor would never have suspected. **

CHAPTER 1

THE TRUE CLARA OSWALD

After Clara had become separated from the Doctor while at the insidious organization known as 3W, she quickly realized that the Doctor had been right to doubt them. It had all been a trick just as he had said it was. It was actually filled with Cybermen instead which Clara had soon found out to her complete and utter horror.

She had run for her life from the Cybermen for several minutes as they started to emerge en mass from their cells, but in the end it still didn't do her any good. She was eventually cornered by several Cybermen who began to rapidly close in on her.

She knew in that moment that she was about to die.

She began to shake in terror as the Cybermen continued to close in on her. She knew now that the Doctor wasn't going to have her back this time. This time he wasn't going to make it, and she was really going to die.

She was going to die and the Doctor wasn't there for her. He hadn't been there to save Danny either, and he should have been. She deserved that. It was owed to her for everything that she had done to help total strangers at his side for so many years now. He could save everyone else but not the people that she cared about.

It wasn't right. Why was he able to help others but not her? Why was it never her turn?

Anger started to fill her heart in that moment and she began to hate the Doctor more than she had ever hated anyone in her life. This was his fault. He had caused all of it. None of this would be happening if not for him. She knew now that he had completely ruined her life, and she hated him for it . . . almost as much as she hated herself.

In that moment, something became unlocked in her mind as a door that she hadn't even realized was there finally opened at last. Memories that was hers and yet not hers suddenly came flooding into her mind all at once.

Then she began to laugh.

The Cybermen momentarily paused as one of them said in an almost emotional voice, "Clara?"

A huge smile spread over Clara's face as she confidently walked right up to the Cyberman who had spoken with no sense of fear whatsoever as she said, "Oh, no, my metal friend. I'm not Clara Oswald. Clara Oswald has never existed."

The Cyberman almost seemed to take on an air of being puzzled as it looked at her and she started to laugh again in amusement as she said, "Confused? Of course you are. Allow me to show you the truth then. Let me tell you all exactly who I really am."

Clara removed a small fob watch from her pants pockets and pressed a button on top of it as she held it up in front of her with a huge smile on her face. The watch immediately released a massive burst of energy from it that completely incinerated every Cyberman in the room with her in the very next moment.

"I am the Master!" Clara proudly proclaimed to a now empty room as she finally opened the watch at last and was bathed in an unearthly glow all over her body.

Once the glow faded, The Master began to smile from ear to ear as she immediately started to take apart the machines and the remains of the Cyberman bodies around her alike and strip them for parts. She quickly started to put together a new laser screwdriver from the materials at hand while she whistled a happy tune to herself.

"Well, one thing's for sure I'm still just a little bit too chipper. I suppose it's a part of this body's personality. That and a burning need to bake for some reason," The Master said to herself with a frown.

Suddenly her eyes widened as a sudden realization hit her all at once and she shouted happily, "I finally know what I've been doing wrong all of this time. Now I can finally make a perfect soufflé at last!"

"Clara?" A frightened voice called out from nearby.

The Master immediately recognized the owner of the voice even before she saw her. She frowned as she saw the person who she now thought of as the Doctor's fawning little toad, Osgood, come into the room. She was wearing her own version of Chinny's ridiculous outfit she noted to herself complete with a bow tie.

To her complete amazement, she found herself actually smiling for a moment at the sight of it.

Osgood smiled back at her with relief as she said, "It is you. I've finally found you. The Doctor wanted UNIT to come in here and get you out. He refused to work with us until we promised that we would."

"Really? You mean he actually bothered to remember me?" The Master asked with a snort.

Osgood looked at her oddly as she said, "Yes, of course he did. He seemed to be very worried about you. At least I think he was anyway. It's hard to tell what this new Doctor is thinking."

"What, you mean Old Sphinx Face? Naw, he's easy to figure out. You just have to have known him for as long as I have. I've known the Doctor for a very long time now. You might say that I know him even better than he knows himself and certainly better than he knows me," The Master said with an amused smile on her face.

Osgood smiled and nodded as she said, "I bet you do. It must be amazing to go along on his travels with him and see all kinds of new worlds at his side."

The Master shook her head as she said, "No, it's not. You think it is at first and then it starts to change and twist you. You soon become a completely different person who can't ever accept an ordinary life again. You have to have the adventure and excitement no matter what lie you have to tell in order to get it. He lures you in with promises of fun and adventure, Osgood, but in the end he destroys you. I'd stick with UNIT if I were you. You might live longer."

Osgood looked at her oddly again as she said in a nervous voice, "Are you coming, Clara? The soldiers aren't too far from here. They're keeping this area cleared of Cybermen until I can get you out."

"How extremely helpful of them," The Master said with a chuckle as she realized that they were letting her walk out of there right under their stupid noses without even realizing just who that they had among them.

Osgood continued to look at her with worry as she walked down the corridors alongside her and said, "Are you alright, Clara? You're not acting like yourself."

"How would you know, Osgood? You've only met me once. That's hardly enough time to really get to know someone is it? Besides that who really knows anyone anyway? There's no telling what someone is really like or what they actually have hidden inside of them in the deepest darkest recesses of their heart," The Master said with a sinister smile.

Osgood began to shake slightly as she finally realized what she had been trying to deny to herself all along. Something was just a little bit off about who she thought was Clara. She tried not to let her see it, but the wily Time Lady noticed it right away anyway and began to enjoy her fear of her.

"Are you afraid of me, Bow Tie Girl?" The Master asked as she smiled an unnerving smile at her.

"N – No," Osgood said nervously as she started to have trouble breathing.

"Inhaler," The Master said as she noticed this.

"What?" Osgood managed to blurt out just before she started to struggle for breath.

The Master rolled her eyes at her as she pulled her recently completed laser screwdriver out of her pocket and pointed it at her.

"That's getting to be very annoying! Let me just do something about that," The Master said as she pushed a button on the screwdriver and a beam of energy engulfed the frightened girl before her.

Osgood looked at her in shock as she suddenly found herself able to breathe once again after the glow faded.

"What? How did you do that?" Osgood asked in puzzlement.

The Master smiled proudly as she showed off her screwdriver to Osgood while she explained, "It's one of the many functions of my little device here. I was able to use it to temporarily fix the problem in your lungs. Unlike some people's screwdrivers, which are only good for putting up shelves, mine actually works on organic materials too. It also has an app that's going to really be good for making killer soufflés!"

"So you know how to make your own sonic now? That is so cool!" Osgood said with a huge smile on her face.

The Master made a face as she said, "Sonic? Hah! Mine's a laser screwdriver. Who'd have sonic? Laser's so much better."

Osgood laughed and now visibly relaxed as she said, "Come on, Clara. I promised the Doctor that I'd get you out of here as quickly as I could."

"Well, we mustn't keep that dear man waiting then must we? I just can't wait to see him again. It's going to be a very memorable meeting I assure you," The Master said.

"You were really worried about him weren't you?" Osgood asked.

"Yes, of course I was. I was extremely worried," The Master said as she tried to hide a laugh.

Osgood suddenly became serious as she said, "Thank you."

"For what?" The Master asked puzzled.

"Helping me and for not laughing at me when I had that happen to me. Some people do," Osgood admitted.

"One thing you're going to have to learn in life is to not care what lesser minds think about you, Osgood. You're clearly superior to them anyway so who cares what the petty little insects think about you anyway? If they continue to bother you, crush them into the ground. Or better yet I'll just do it for you," The Master said with a smirk.

Osgood looked at her with an uncertain look on her face for a moment and then she chuckled as she said, "You're funny. I never knew that you had such a mad sense of humor."

"Well, now you do. I've always been known for being able to laugh in the face of anything no matter how bad it is," The Master said with a twinkle in her eye.

"I guess that comes in handy when you're traveling with the Doctor, huh?" Osgood said.

Then she screamed as several Cybermen suddenly appeared out of nowhere and blocked their way. They had obviously broken through somewhere and gotten past the soldiers.

Osgood was absolutely terrified while the Master started to laugh as she pointed her laser screwdriver at the nearest Cyberman while it rushed towards them. She was really going to enjoy this.

She began blowing apart all of the Cybermen one by one as she continued to laugh louder and louder. Her laughter soon threatened to completely overwhelm her as she quickly proceeded to wipe out every Cyberman in sight in rapid succession. Osgood stared at the Master with a mixture of shock and awe as she finished off the last Cyberman and blew on the top of her screwdriver like it was a gun as she did so.

"That was simply amazing," Osgood said in disbelief.

"I know. It was wasn't it? I haven't had that much fun since the last time I met Martha Jones," The Master said happily.

"You know Martha?" Osgood asked in surprise.

"Yes, I know her very, very well. You could say that I'm an old friend of the family. We go way back," The Master said with a chuckle.

"I don't think she's at UNIT at the moment or I'd arrange for you to see her," Osgood said.

"Don't worry about it. I'll be sure and look her up as soon as I can. Believe me," The Master said.

"I like your outfit by the way. It looks very nice on you," Osgood said as the two of them continued to make their way to the exit as quickly as they could.

The Master smirked at that because that was the very last thing that should have been on the Earth girl's mind at that moment. She realized from her time as Clara though that this was Osgood's way of trying to bond with her.

"Thank you. You know maybe you should start dressing like me. I obviously have much better fashion sense than the Old Man does. Maybe you could become my biggest fan instead," The Master said.

Osgood smiled as she said, "I'd never be able to pull off those skirts. They're much too tight."

The Master laughed as she said, "That's the idea."

"I must warn you if you're thinking about going after the Doctor now that the job of his girlfriend has already been taken," A voice said behind the two women.

They both turned to see a woman dressed like an old school nanny from the turn of the last century who looked at them with an insane smile on her face.

The Master began to laugh immediately as she said, "That's a very interesting new look for you. I have to admit that I kind of like it. So what is this anyway? This isn't your usual style at all."

"I decided to change things up in order to fool the Doctor. I'm calling myself Missy these days by the way. I think I actually have him thinking that I'm you. Who would have thought that you would actually be here all along though? Then again you always were attracted to him like a magnet weren't you? The two of you always seem to be joined at the hip every time I come across either of you. Sooner or later the other one always shows up," Missy said.

"So you're the one behind all of this are you? I should have known. The whole thing practically comes out of your playbook doesn't it? I mean some of it was obviously ripped off from me but the experimenting on human consciousness and biology is just pure you, isn't it? Since when do you care about being Theta's girlfriend anyway? You've always hated him," The Master said.

"I never hated him. I just couldn't stand to be around him. There's a difference. I'm actually putting on a stalker persona as a way of keeping him guessing exactly who I really am plus it's a great deal of fun! You realize of course that I can't let you leave here unless you agree to help me," Missy said.

"Are you threatening me?" The Master asked as she began to laugh.

"I am I'm afraid. Either you work with me and help me or I'll just have to get rid of both you and your little companion there," Missy said.

"You think that she's _my_ companion? Really?" The Master said almost proud of that.

"Clara, what's going on? Who is she?" Osgood asked in a frightened voice as she struggled for breath again.

"Inhaler," The Master reminded her as Osgood take the inhaler out of her pocket and used it.

Missy laughed as she said, "Well, well. Look at you, 'Clara'! Since when did you develop such a fondness for humans? You've always hated them."

"What is she talking about?" Osgood said as soon as she could speak again.

"Nothing, Osgood. Don't worry about it. She lies. A lot," The Master said.

"That's rich especially coming from you," Missy said laughing.

"Who is she though? Why is she doing this?" Osgood asked.

"Her real name is the Rani. She's a Time Lady from the same planet as the Doctor only she's not as human friendly as the Doctor. If you can call that friendly that is. Still at least Mr. Stick Insect doesn't do experiments on humans so I guess that's one point in his favor. As to why she's doing it, she wants an army. You want to use your new army of Cybermen to find and destroy the Time Lords before they come back to this universe, don't you?" The Master said.

"I won't let them return and restart the Time War again. I'll never get caught up in that nightmare anymore. I almost died the last time and went through horrors that you couldn't even begin to imagine. It drove me half mad as a result, and I'm not going back to that again. Never again! I'll destroy them all first before I allow that to happen. I'll destroy you too if you don't agree to join me right now," Missy said in a furious voice.

Suddenly several Cybermen marched into the hallway and stood behind Missy. The message was now being made perfectly clear to both women.

"I think she means it," Osgood said nervously.

"Of course she does. The Rani never was one for bluffing. Alright, 'Missy', I'll join you. Osgood will too of course. It'll be just like old times again won't it?" The Master said.

"I can't tell you how thrilled that I am at the thought of that," Missy said with a frown.

"What are you doing? I don't want to join her," Osgood whispered to the Master.

"Would you rather die instead? Go along with me on this," The Master said.

She had no idea why she cared what happened to Osgood, but she found to her surprise that she did. She actually liked her and didn't want the Rani to kill her.

What was happening to her? Had her time as Clara left more of an impact on her than she realized?

Missy smiled now as she said, "Come on, 'Clara'. I'm sure that by now the Doctor is around here somewhere looking for you. I simply can't wait to let him find you."

The Master smiled as she said, "I have to admit that I'm looking forward to that too very, very much. I simply can't wait to see the look on his face when we're reunited once more. It should be priceless."

Then she began to laugh as Osgood looked at her in confusion. They were practically prisoners of a mad Time Lady who was creating a massive army of deadly Cybermen that were threatening to take over the entire planet or worse. What in the world could she possibly find funny about this whole thing?

**Next: The Master, Missy, and Osgood come across the Doctor and Kate Stewart along with a small army of UNIT soldiers as they storm 3W. What will happen next and how will the Doctor react when he realizes that his best friend is and always has been his greatest enemy? How will Osgood react? Will she be as eager to be the Master's friend when she finds out that she's not Clara anymore? Or is that really true? Is Clara really as gone as the Master thinks that she is?**

**Well? What did you think about it? This was just an idea that I had before the finale that I thought might make for a great story. Did it work? Or does it seem redundant in the wake of the revelation about Missy's true identity? Should it be finished up in the next chapter or two or does the idea call for a longer story? Let me know.**


	2. Revelations

CHAPTER 2

REVELATIONS

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, and reviews!

The Master smiled as she heard the sounds of intense battle coming from nearby and the entire building was rocked with massive explosions. She knew exactly what that meant, and she was so looking forward to what she knew was going to happen next.

"He's coming," The Master said with undisguised glee.

Missy smiled as she said, "I know. He's coming straight into my trap now, and once I have him I'm going to trap his mind in my Matrix forever. He's never going to get the chance to free the Time Lords. Do you fancy sharing that new regeneration cycle of his, Koschei? It's not like he's going to need it anymore where he's going."

The Master looked at her with surprise as she said, "You must have been watching us for a long time then I take it if you know about that."

"Of course I have. I know all about what happened on Trenzalore and how it was you who saved the Doctor's life there. Oh, the irony! I was so hoping that he would die there and end the threat of the Time Lords forever, but you just had to go and put an end to that didn't you? I had really hoped that our plan would work, Koschei. You don't know how frustrating it is to find out that I went to all of the trouble of breaking you out of the pocket universe that Gallifrey was trapped in for nothing. You completely ruined our plan though instead. It was a plan that should have been completely foolproof. Disguising yourself as one of the Doctor's Earth girls as your next incarnation should have been a perfect trap for him since he adores them all so much. I had hoped that trusting you would inevitably wind up leading him straight to his doom. What happened there? I thought surely that even with no memory that your true nature would come out in the end and that you would eventually turn against him and destroy him or at the very least that you would have stood back and let him die on Trenzalore. Instead human you turned into little Miss Goody Two Shoes. To say that I was disappointed is a massive understatement," Missy said.

"You should blame yourself instead, Ushas. You're the one who recalibrated my personality using the Chameleon Arch in order to make me into someone that he'd like and trust. Only you did the job a little too well, didn't you? You completely neutered me and made me sickeningly bland and vanilla. It was only lately that my true self started to slowly resurface once more, and I started to lie to and manipulate people in order to get what I wanted once again just like I used to do. That just proves that no matter what's thrown at me or how much I'm changed that sooner or later the greatness that is me will always come out in the end eventually," The Master said smugly.

They both heard Osgood gasp in shock behind them, and the Master only just now remembered that she was still there with them. She had completely forgotten her.

She turned to see Osgood looking at her with complete terror and gasping for breath. She actually found herself feeling guilty for that and wondering why.

Why did she feel anything for any of these pitiful humans? What had happened to her?

"It's alright. Calm down. No one's going to hurt you. You're safe," The Master said in a reassuring voice that caused Missy to look at her in surprise.

"I wouldn't be so quick to tell her that if I were you. She is a member of UNIT after all. You know that we'll have to do something about her sooner or later. She can't be trusted," Missy said.

The Master glared at her as she said, "You'll leave her alone or you'll answer to me."

Missy looked at her in disbelief as she said, "What's happened to you? Since when do you care about anyone?"

The Master looked confused as she said, "I don't know. It must be a lingering after effect of the Arch. Why not just leave her alone though? She's harmless."

"Fine. It wasn't like I was going to kill her like you're acting anyway. It's not my style. That's more like something that you'd do," Missy said.

Alerts went off everywhere and Missy smiled as she said, "You'll excuse me now won't you? I have to deal with this. You stay here and keep pretending to be innocent little Clara. Here, this should help. It'll keep him from detecting that you're not human anymore."

Missy handed the Master a perception filter to disguise her Time Lord nature with and then quickly left in order to lead the fight against the UNIT invaders.

"You're not going to kill me?" Osgood asked in an uncertain voice after she used her inhaler once more.

"No," The Master said with a reassuring smile as she put the perception filter over her neck.

"I know I shouldn't be asking this and that it's tempting fate or something but I have to know. Why? Why aren't you going to kill me?" Osgood said.

The Master laughed in amusement as she said, "You're not very grateful are you? Haven't you ever heard not to look a gift horse in the mouth?"

"I've read all about you though and it's what you do. You kill everyone that stands in your way. UNIT's archives are filled with horror stories about you and all of the lives that you've taken over the years. What makes me so special?" Osgood asked.

"Maybe I've decided to try something new for a change," The Master said enigmatically.

"Are you . . . Are you going to kill the Doctor?" Osgood asked hesitantly.

"I haven't decided yet," The Master said as she stared down at the floor.

"I won't let you hurt him," Osgood said in a firm voice.

The Master looked at her with a sinister smile as she said, "Don't push your luck, Osgood. I may have developed some kind of sentimental attachment to you that I don't quite understand just yet, but I won't hesitate to push you aside if you get in my way. Remember that."

"I won't let you hurt him," Osgood said again as she continued to stare her down.

The Master gave her a grudging look of respect before looking deep into her eyes as she said, "I know. That's why you're going to forget all about this. You will no longer remember who I am, Osgood. As far as you're concerned, I'm just Clara Oswald and that's all I've ever been. You will forget who I am until I tell you to remember it again. I am the Master and you will obey me."

"N – No," Osgood protested.

"Your will is strong but it's no match for mine. You will obey me!" The Master said.

Osgood went glassy eyed then as the Master said in a sympathetic voice, "Sorry about this, Inhaler Girl. I'll make it up to you later with a delicious new soufflé I promise."

"Soufflé?" Osgood asked as she returned to her senses.

The Master smiled at her as she said, "Yes, I'm going to let you be the first to taste my new recipe. You're going to love it."

"How can you talk about soufflés at a time like this, Clara?" Osgood asked her in amazement.

"Yes, we're in a life threatening situation where we're facing certain death at any moment but that's no excuse not to plan ahead for the future," The Master said with an insane smile on her face.

"You're crazy do you know that?" Osgood said with a chuckle.

"It has been noted before, yes," The Master said with a warm smile.

Then they heard massive explosions outside that rocked the entire area and the Master smiled as she said, "There he is. Right on schedule. He's as predictable as ever."

"Are you sure that it's the Doctor?" Osgood asked.

"Positive. If you ever want to find the Doctor, just follow the trail of destruction left in his wake," The Master said with an evil smile.

Her smile immediately faded as the Doctor raced into the room and said, "Clara, are you alright?"

A cascade of emotions went flooding through the Master's head in that moment. Part of her wanted to shoot the Doctor immediately with her laser screwdriver and watch him disintegrate right then and there, another part of her wanted to stick with the plan that she had already developed in her mind in order to make him suffer, and to her shock another much smaller part of her simply wanted to hug him. She briefly shuddered as she pushed that last part of her aside and stuck with her plan.

"Yep, I'm just peachy. It's about time that you got here. I was sure that I was about to join the Cybermen at any moment now. That's a fact that you forgot to mention by the way. 3W is just a set-up for the Cybermen," The Master said.

"I didn't realize it until later. I thought that I was missing something though," The Doctor said with a sheepish look on his face.

"Oh, and thanks so much for going off and leaving me all alone by the way. I always love it when you do that to me," The Master said in an angry voice.

"I thought that you would be safe there," The Doctor protested.

"Really or did you just not care?" The Master said.

"Of course I care. I always care," The Doctor said.

"Well, you could have fooled me," The Master said.

Then she said in a worried voice, "So does this mean that Danny is now a Cyberman too?"

"Possibly or it may have all just been a trick to keep me here so that I wouldn't leave. This Missy whoever she actually is seems to know a lot about me so I wouldn't put it past her," The Doctor said.

"So that means that he's already probably been destroyed then in that firefight out there with UNIT," The Master said.

"We don't know that for sure. He may not have been transferred into a Cyber body yet. His consciousness may still be in Missy's Matrix where she's keeping so many others," The Doctor said.

"Is there a way of finding out for sure though? Maybe we could use the TARDIS to find him again just like we did before. Maybe it could lead us to his specific location so at least then we'd know for sure," The Master said.

"It only led us here before, Clara. I doubt that we'll get any more specific than that," The Doctor said.

"We could at least try couldn't we? I want to try to save him before some UNIT soldier blows him up," The Master said.

"If he's a Cyberman it's too late anyway. He's already dead," The Doctor said in an unfeeling voice.

"You don't know that for sure though, do you? We might still be able to save him somehow. Maybe the process is still reversible. Or is it much easier to just abandon people when they become too inconvenient for you?" The Master taunted.

The Doctor gave her a wounded look and then sighed as he said, "We can try. I think UNIT has things in control for the moment. Missy seems to be on the run now so they shouldn't need me for a while. For a group of pudding brains, they're not so bad."

"I'm sure Osgood isn't offended by that at all. Are you, Inhaler Girl?" The Master asked.

"Offended by what?" The Doctor asked in a confused voice.

"I'm fine. Can I come too? I'd love to see the TARDIS if I could," Osgood said.

"That's right. You haven't seen the inside yet have you? Come along then. This is going to be an eye opening experience," The Master said.

Especially for the Doctor. She thought to herself with a small smile.

"Clara, are you sure you're alright?" The Doctor asked as he looked at her suspiciously.

The Master knew now that she had been acting too happy. Clara was supposed to be distraught over losing Danny. She couldn't let the Doctor see through her façade. Not now when she was so close to victory.

The Master immediately assumed an extremely mournful look as she said, "No, I'm not alright. I'm trying my best to pretend that I am though. Isn't that what you always do?"

The Doctor nodded as he said, "Let's go to the TARDIS then. It's right outside."

The Master smiled in triumph as they left the room and saw the TARDIS standing there. The three of them then went inside, and the Master quickly made her way to the console where she placed her hands directly into the telepathic circuits.

"Concentrate, Clara. Think harder about Danny than you ever have before. Maybe we can be led to his exact location instead of the general area," The Doctor instructed.

The Master laughed as she said, "Oh, I'm concentrating alright but not on Danny."

"What?" The Doctor asked in a worried tone as he now sensed that he had made a mistake.

The Doctor began to scream in agony now as the Master said, "Do you feel that, Old Man? I'm using your own connection to the TARDIS against you now by opening up a direct connection between our minds with the telepathic circuits and using it to suddenly bombard your mind with the memories of every bit of pain that I've ever experienced in my life all at once. I find that it's only appropriate that you get to feel it too since you helped to cause so much of it!"

"What are you doing?" Osgood said in horror.

"Remember," The Master commanded as she looked into her eyes.

Osgood now became filled with anger as she shouted, "Stop this! No matter what he did or didn't do to you he's a good man. He doesn't deserve this."

"Is he? Is he really? You're so naïve, Osgood. Maybe someday you'll learn just how naïve, but right now I'm much too busy dealing with the Doctor at the moment to teach you," The Master said.

"I won't let you do this," Osgood said as she pulled a small gun out of one of her pockets and aimed it at the Master with a shaking hand.

"We both know that you're never going to pull that trigger. You're far too kind hearted. You don't really want to hurt me do you?" The Master said as she adopted a kindly almost innocent expression.

"No, I don't but I will to save his life," Osgood said in a nervous voice.

"I'm not going to kill him, Osgood. It's much more fun to keep him alive and torture him," The Master said.

"Just leave him alone. Leave him alone and stop all of this. I thought that you were my friend and that maybe you had changed. You were acting like my friend. You saved me from the Rani," Osgood said.

"You truly are naïve, Osgood. I'm no one's friend. I only care about one person and one person only, and you're looking at her," The Master said.

"Why did you save me then?" Osgood asked.

The Master gave her a blank look for a moment and then said, "I don't know. I just didn't want you to die."

"That's . . . Clara talking," The Doctor said in a voice filled with pain.

"Don't you get it yet? I am Clara. I always have been. There never was anyone else. It was me. It was always just me so you're wasting your breath trying to appeal to Clara. She no longer exists," The Master said in anger.

"She had to come from somewhere though. You were a good person once and that goodness came back to you when you were her. Clara wasn't just a trick, Koschei. Clara was you. The real you. The person who was my friend so long ago," The Doctor said through gritted teeth.

"Your friend is as dead as Clara Oswald," The Master said.

"Then why are you being so kind to Osgood then? You saved her life and even now you're not trying to kill her. The Master would have already cut her down a long time ago," The Doctor said.

"Oh, is that why you think I'm still Clara somehow? I can easily explain that. I don't have to stop her, Doctor, because I'm not in any danger from her. I never was," The Master said.

"What? What are you talking about?" Osgood asked.

"I have complete and absolute control of your mind. I always have from the moment that I first hypnotized you. You couldn't shoot me now if your life depended on it. Go ahead. Try," The Master said.

"You think I won't? If you don't stop right now I will. I will do it I swear," Osgood said.

"Go ahead then," The Master said with no worry whatsoever in her voice.

"Just put the gun down, Osgood," The Doctor said.

"There's no need to worry, Doctor. She's not going to shoot anyway," The Master said confidently.

Then she screamed in shock and surprise as Osgood shot her in the arm!

"I'm sorry," Osgood said in an upset tone even as she continued to hold the gun on her.

"It's always the women. Always! Even when I'm one of them," The Master said in disbelief.

"Apparently her mind is a lot stronger than you thought, Koschei. She's definitely no pudding brain," The Doctor said with a triumphant smirk.

He quickly started to scream in pain though as the Master suddenly increased her mental assault on him.

"Zip it, Old Man. I'll deal with you later," The Master said.

Then she turned to look at Osgood with eyes filled with anger as she said, "I was good to you and this is what I get in return. Now you're going to find out why it's never a good idea to cross me."

"No!" The Doctor screamed as the Master pulled out her laser screwdriver and aimed it at Osgood while keeping her remaining hand in the telepathic circuits.

Osgood turned pale with terror as she said, "No, please don't!"

"The time for mercy is over with now, Osgood. Good bye," The Master said as she fired a yellow laser at her.

Osgood screamed and closed her eyes in terror even as she blindly fired her gun at the exact same time.

Then she suddenly opened her eyes as she realized, "I'm still alive. I wasn't hit."

"No, I changed my mind at the last second and hit one of the roundels on the wall instead. I don't know why I did that," The Master said with a surprised look on her face.

"You still didn't kill her even when you easily could have. Doesn't that tell you something? The old Master definitely would have without a second thought," The Doctor said with a hopeful look on his face.

"I am the old Master, Doctor, or have you forgotten who's currently torturing you?" The Master asked.

"Part of you, no matter how small, is still Clara Oswald though. Being her changed you didn't it? It changed you for the better," The Doctor countered.

"Oh, you'd really like to believe that wouldn't you? You always did have to believe the best about everyone and everything didn't you? There is no good inside of me though, Doctor. I don't think that there ever was to start with," The Master said.

"I don't believe that. Clara Oswald was kind and caring, and she had one of the biggest hearts of anyone that I have ever known. She sacrificed something that was precious to her just to save a child that she barely knew, and she almost sacrificed her own life to save me. You can't tell me that all of that just came from the mental reprogramming done by the Arch. That had to come from the heart," The Doctor said.

"You're so wrong, Doctor. You're about to find out just how wrong," The Master said.

She then used the laser screwdriver to shoot the gun out of Osgood's hand, and then quickly shot her unconscious with her next blast.

"Now that she's out of the way it's time to finally end this once and for all," The Master said.

The Master then sent a concentrated burst of painful memories into the Doctor's mind that were so overwhelming that he immediately screamed in agony and then passed out from the pain. As soon as he hit the ground, the Master ordered the TARDIS to dematerialize.

"You were right to be wary of me back when we first met. You should never have let me inside," The Master said to the TARDIS with a grim smile.

The TARDIS materialized right over Kate Stewart who now looked at her surroundings in shock as she said, "What's happening, Clara? Did the Cybermen do that to the Doctor and Osgood?"

"No, I did," The Master said as she pointed her laser screwdriver at Kate now with a sinister smile.

"I take it that you have her now," Missy's voice said from the console.

"Oh, yes. The Doctor and Kate Stewart are now completely at my mercy. Mission accomplished, Ushas," The Master said proudly.

"Just because you have me doesn't mean that you've won. They'll still keep on fighting even without me," Kate said.

"You're not even surprised in the slightest that the person who you think of as a friend has just betrayed you? You've even colder than the Doctor," The Master said in disbelief.

"You're obviously under Missy's mental influence. I've read about it in my father's papers," Kate said.

The Master laughed as she said, "Missy was never the Master, Kate. That's just what she wanted everyone to think so that no one would suspect that the real Master had been hiding among them all along."

Kate now showed a trace of emotion at last as she said, "No, it can't be."

"Oh, but it can. I am the Master, Kate, the same person who you gave access to the Black Archives before. Now won't that come in handy someday soon?"

Kate looked at her in absolute horror as the Master began to laugh and said, "That's right, Kate. You just gave me the key to your toy box, and I'll definitely use it later. You can believe me on that. For now though, you're going to help me in a very different way. You're going to give your soldiers the order to stand down and surrender, and you're going to give it now."

"I'll never give that order," Kate said.

"Oh, but you will, Kate. It just won't be really you doing it. Do you have enough of a voiceprint to copy her voice with now, computer?" The Master said to the console.

"Affirmative," The TARDIS' computer answered.

"Change the holographic interface to look like her then and project it outside. Tell it to say exactly what I tell you," The Master said.

"No!" Kate shouted as she started to rush at the Master.

The Master shot her down with the laser screwdriver before she even got close to her.

"Again with the stun setting? Maybe I am going soft. I guess I owe her a soufflé later too," The Master said with a chuckle.

Then she watched on the monitor as the hologram of Kate was projected to the soldiers. The Master smiled as she carried out the last part of her plan and spoke as Kate while she ordered the soldiers to surrender to the Cybermen.

Some of the soldiers did as ordered immediately even as others refused. The Master had anticipated that too though and gave orders to the loyal soldiers to turn their guns on the ones who had disobeyed.

As the two sets of UNIT soldiers faced each other in a tense standoff, she began to laugh maniacally. Sometimes humans were their own worst enemies especially when they mindlessly followed orders.

Clara had made the same mistake herself when she stopped questioning the Doctor the Master mused. For that alone she deserved to die.

Or was she really dead at all? If she wasn't, then why did she suddenly feel as if she had just stabbed the Doctor in the back? Furthermore why did she care?

Missy now entered the TARDIS in triumph as she said, "Very good. There's still resistance but I have a feeling that that will be taken care of very soon now. We've won, Koschei. How does it feel to have finally beaten him at last?"

"Not as good as I thought it would," The Master said sadly.

Missy looked at her oddly as she said, "Are you having regrets? You?"

To Missy, the Master seemed to be wrestling to come to some kind of decision, and she was really starting to worry about what that decision just might be. She was almost sure now just by the look on the Master's face that whatever her final decision was that it would definitely not be in her favor.

"Don't even think about backing out now," Missy warned.

"I'm not thinking about it, Ushas," The Master said.

Then she shot Missy down as she said with an evil smile, "I'm doing it."

The Master quickly used the TARDIS to hack into the Cyberiad, the collective consciousness of the Cybermen. She smiled as she used her computer skills to give new orders to the Cybermen that caused them all to immediately shut down.

Then she walked over to the still unconscious Doctor and briefly placed her hands on the sides of his head. She then proceeded to do the same thing to Kate, Osgood, and Missy.

Sometime later, the Doctor woke up to discover Clara standing over him with a huge smile on her face as he asked, "What just happened?"

"That's what I'd like to know as well," Kate said as she and Osgood both woke up at the same time.

"Well, you were all overcome by Missy who it seemed had just won. She had even tricked the soldiers into surrendering. I wish she had done it a little sooner actually because I accidentally got hit by one of their bullets in the crossfire between them and the Cybermen . I' m okay though. It's just a flesh wound. Luckily for you I have a high tolerance for pain so you still had your Soufflé Girl on the job. I hacked into the Cyberiad and shut all of the Cybermen down. I even knocked out Missy when she came in here to try to stop me. In other words, I just saved the day all by myself singlehandedly. Am I good or what, Old Man? Did Missy's attack on your minds really scramble your brains that hard? Don't you remember any of this?" The Master said.

"Yes. Yes, of course. I remember now," Kate said in a still slightly confused tone.

"I remember it perfectly," Osgood said.

"Not many people can outwit a Time Lord like that," The Doctor said with a curious look on his face.

"So I did a good job then?" The Master asked eagerly.

"Yes, you did and I think that this time goodness had everything to do with it," The Doctor said.

The Master looked at him with suspicion wondering if he still remembered something after all but he seemed to show no signs of knowing who she really was. She decided to just take it as a compliment and just leave it at that.

"Well, Doctor, I have to go now. Maybe I can still find a way to save and restore the minds that are in the Cybermen's bodies. If we're lucky, we may even be able to build them all android bodies somehow. We have access to some of the technology of the Movellans in the Black Archive after all, and they're masters at making realistic looking androids," Kate said.

"If you come across the mind of a Danny Pink in there make sure to let me know, okay?" The Master said so as to avoid suspicion.

Kate looked at her questioningly but only said, "I will. Are you coming, Osgood?"

Osgood hesitated now as she said, "Ma'am, do you think that maybe I . . ."

As Osgood trailed off, Kate smiled already knowing what she wanted to ask her. She couldn't blame her really. Part of her wanted to do the same thing herself.

"If the Doctor wants you to go along, then you may. Just be back here as soon as you can," Kate said.

Osgood smiled and began to jump up and down with joy as she said, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"Wait a minute. No one asked me yet. It is my ship after all," The Doctor said grumpily.

"Oh, come on, Old Man. Let her come," The Master said even as she found out to her amazement that she really meant it.

The Doctor sighed before finally saying, "Alright. Fine."

Osgood screamed and then launched herself at the Doctor. She hugged him tightly as he said, "No! No hugging! Clara, get her off of me!"

"Not me, Old Man. I already handled the Cybermen for you. This time you're going to have to fend for yourself," The Master said with a chuckle.

She wasn't sure if she had just made a huge mistake or not. She wasn't even sure if she would stick with this course of action. All that she knew was that when she was Clara and had been traveling with him instead of working against him she had been happy. She had been truly and properly happy for the first time in a long time.

Maybe that was worth exploring some more just to see where it might lead. After all if she ever changed her mind, she could always kill the Doctor later.

**Next: The Master, still in the guise of Clara, continues on her adventures with the Doctor along with their new fellow traveler, Osgood. Can this actually work out or is it doomed to end right from the start? Plus more on the final fate of the Cybermen. Can Kate retrieve their minds or is it already too late? Where is Danny's consciousness anyway?**


	3. Echoes of the Past

CHAPTER 3

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, and reviews!

ECHOES OF THE PAST

The TARDIS materialized in the middle of a war torn planet that looked like it had definitely seen better days. Everywhere that the TARDIS crew looked there was nothing but devastated buildings and shattered dreams as hundreds of refugees moved through the area looking for a place of safety.

"This is definitely not where I had expected to wind up on my first visit," Osgood said in a horrified voice.

"Maybe it's good that you get that lesson out of the way early then. Traveling with me isn't always fun and romantic. There are many horrors out there in the universe, and this is only one of them," The Doctor said in a somber voice as he looked out at the devastation around him with disdain.

The Master said nothing. Once she would have thought that a scene like this wasn't even worth her attention. She would have completely passed a place like this by on her travels without even a second thought . . . or a first one.

Now though she felt so bad for these people. She was surprised to find that she actually wanted to help them.

"Is there anything that we can do for this world, Doctor? Maybe we could stop the war or at least help the survivors find a safe place to go," The Master said before she even realized what was coming out of her mouth.

To her complete surprise, the Doctor actually smiled at her for a brief moment before he said, "We can't really do anything for them, Clara. This war is a fixed point in time and can't be stopped. As for the people, there's already an organized plan in place to get them all to safety going on even as we speak."

"How do you know that, Doctor?" Osgood asked in surprise.

"I've already been here before. Mr. Bow Tie came here with Amy Pond and helped to organize the refugees so that they could help themselves. He established an underground base to take the survivors to once the battles were finished," The Doctor said.

"Why did we come here then?" The Master asked.

"I just wanted to check and see how it was going. It seems to be running very efficiently from what I can see here so I suppose we should just go somewhere else then," The Doctor said.

The Master looked at the Doctor suspiciously as she wondered if there had been more to it than that. Since when had the Doctor ever gone anywhere just to check up on its progress? He never looked back once he left somewhere. He also usually had a reason for everything that he did even if it didn't always look like it. Who would know that better than her after all, his oldest friend/enemy?

Something was wrong about this whole situation, and it made the Master wonder yet again if the Doctor knew who she really was now despite the perception filter. Other than that brief smile at her however he didn't seem to be acting any differently than he ever had to her before. She decided to just let it go in the hopes that it was nothing more than the Doctor's usual quirkiness.

She wasn't exactly acting normally herself these days come to think of it. She already knew from the start that the war was a fixed point in time, but part of her had still wanted to end it anyway. She had looked at the suffering of the people of that world and had automatically wanted to undo it all somehow or at least to make things better there.

She couldn't help but wonder what was happening to her lately. Why had she suddenly started to care so much about others? Those questions were really starting to bother her now but not half as much as the horrible sense of guilt that she had started to feel.

"Clara, what is it?" Osgood asked in concern as she saw her starting to cry.

"It's nothing. I guess I've just let what's happening here get to me I suppose," The Master lied.

"Yeah, I have to admit that it's pretty upsetting to me too. Doctor, can't we go somewhere where we could actually make a difference?" Osgood asked.

"Yes, Doctor, let's do that for Osgood. We don't want to drive her off on her first day do we?" The Master asked even as she tried to keep the accusing faces of numerous people from her past out of her mind.

"It's good that she knows what she's in for right from the start, Clara. This life isn't all a nice big happy lark like she seemed to think that it was. You know that better than most," The Doctor said.

"Yes, but it really can have its fun moments too. So far you're not showing her any of those, Doctor. Let's take her to a happy place. Practically any place would be happier than this by the way," The Master said.

The Doctor led the way back to the TARDIS as he said, "Well, I wasn't exactly going to take her to Trenzalore, Clara."

"Knowing this new version of you, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if you did, Doctor. I bet you actually think of that as a vacation spot, Old Man," The Master said with a small smile as she felt a little like her old self for a moment.

"I don't pick destinations based on how fun that they are. That was more Mr. Bow Tie's thing than mine. I will however try to pick a much more interesting location. How do you feel about history, Osgood?" The Doctor asked.

"Are we going back in time?" Osgood asked in excitement.

"Why not? Or we could even go forwards. Pick a time. Any time at all," The Doctor offered as he finally opened the TARDIS doors for the two women with a snap of his fingers.

As Osgood went inside, she began to look anxious about this decision as she said, "I don't know. There's just so much history to choose from."

"How about we let the TARDIS choose then?" The Doctor offered as he dematerialized.

The Master shuddered not sure that she wanted to let the TARDIS choose if there was a chance that they would wind up in another place like this again. She knew from experience that left to her devices that the TARDIS would always lead the Doctor straight into trouble.

The TARDIS knew that that's how he liked his journeys after all.

Why should she care whether it did or not though? Trouble used to be a great source of humor to her once. She used to enjoy reveling in other people's misery and suffering.

Not now though. Now she actually cared. Maybe the Doctor had been right after all. Maybe some part of her really was still Clara Oswald.

That was complete nonsense though of course. There was no way that that could be true. She had no conscience, right?

That's what she told the endless stream of faces that went through her mind as she struggled to ignore them. They were all the faces of her many, many victims over the centuries. The worst one was Lucy Saxon. She continued to accuse her over and over again of ruining her life and asked her again and again why she should get a second chance to redeem herself if she had never gotten one since she was far more deserving of one.

The Master honestly couldn't answer that question.

"Clara, are you alright? You haven't been acting right ever since we left Earth," Osgood asked in concern.

The Master couldn't even look at Osgood as she said, "I'm fine. I guess I'm still just worried about Danny is all."

Osgood smiled at her as she said, "Oh, I'm sure that he'll be alright, Clara. They'll find him and bring him back to you. I know that they will."

Clara simply nodded without answering her. She couldn't bring herself to look at Osgood because she knew that if things had been different that she would have killed her just as callously and just as cruelly as she had all of her other victims. She didn't deserve Osgood's compassion or sympathy. She didn't deserve a friend like her at all.

Despite her current mood, she almost smiled at that. When had she started thinking of Osgood as her friend?

"Clara, I think that the next destination will probably be a much more pleasant one if that makes you feel any better," The Doctor said.

"I'm not sure that anything can make me feel any better at the moment," The Master answered.

She was beginning to wish that she had never opened that watch. For all of her worries and recent heartache, Clara Oswald's life was infinitely preferable to the one that she had now.

Even the Master's previous life would have been better than this one. She almost found herself wishing to go back to it despite how wicked that it was.

It had been so much better when she had had no hearts. Then the guilt wouldn't matter would it?

"Doctor, I hope that we really are going someplace nice next. I'm very worried about Clara. She's driving herself mad worrying about Danny," Osgood whispered to the Doctor.

The Doctor looked at her oddly for a moment as he said, "Yes, about Danny. Well, I think that our new trip will be exactly what she needs. It's both a trip to the past and a . . . fun one. I don't really understand the use of a fun visit, but if it will help to cheer her up I suppose I can make the sacrifice."

"So you know where we're going then?" Osgood asked in surprise.

"Of course I know. I decided not to let the TARDIS pick after all. I picked our next destination myself in order to help Clara get over this depression of hers. We're arriving there now as a matter of fact," The Doctor said.

The TARDIS then materialized in the very next minute, and Osgood immediately ran outside eager to see exactly where they had wound up next. She smiled as she saw immediately that they were in a lush garden that looked to her just like paradise.

"It's beautiful! What is this place, Doctor?" Osgood asked with a huge smile on her face.

"Is it beautiful? Yes, I suppose it is. I came here once a long time ago and haven't been back since so I decided to give it another look," The Doctor said.

The Master now took a look outside as well, and her hearts immediately skipped a beat as she recognized the garden immediately. She knew exactly where they were now, and everything in her wanted to run from this place as fast as she could.

She couldn't bear the shame.

"You never did say the name of this place, Doctor. Where are we?" Osgood asked.

"We're on a planet called Traken," The Doctor said with no trace of emotion whatsoever.

The Master meanwhile actually began to feel physically ill. Traken was just one planet out of many that the she had completely wiped out. Now she had to really wonder what this was all about.

Why had the Doctor really brought them here for? It couldn't be a coincidence. Did he know?

Did he know who she really was after all?

Meanwhile at that very moment back on Earth, Kate Stewart finally collapsed from exhaustion at her desk after a long day of working constantly with the scientists at UNIT to do something to help the Cybermen. She had a huge smile on her face as she sat there filled with pride in herself.

They had finally managed to do it. They had found a way to completely restore the emotions of the Cybermen and then had transferred their consciousness into Movellan android bodies that looked exactly like their original bodies. They hadn't been able to save everyone in the Rani's Matrix unfortunately because some of them had been there for so long that their brainwave patterns had degraded and were non-transferable to a new source. Those that they couldn't save were released when the Matrix was turned off in order to give them a final sense of peace.

Over all though, Kate felt as if she had done an extremely good job by saving as many people as she could. The one thing that bothered her was that she still hadn't managed to locate her father just yet. She knew that he was still out there somewhere though in his new Cyberman body because she had been hearing reports of a lone Cyberman saving people and helping them out all across the countryside. Who else could it be?

Sooner or later she hoped that she would run across him too. She wasn't sure how he would react to being given a chance at having an android body, but she had to at least offer that choice to him. She wouldn't be able to live with herself otherwise.

Just as Kate was about to fall asleep at her desk from pure exhaustion however, she was suddenly interrupted by one of her scientists who came running into her office with an anxious look on his face.

"Yes, what is it, Malcolm?" Kate asked.

"Ma'am, we've finally located the consciousness of a man named Danny Pink just as you asked us to do. He had been transferred back into the Rani's Matrix after his Cyberman body had been destroyed in the fight," Malcolm said.

Kate smiled thinking of how happy that Clara would be to hear that as she said, "Good work, Malcolm. Has he been transferred into an android body yet?"

"Yes, Ma'am. That's not the only reason that I'm here though. You see Danny told us something once he was able to do so. Something very important that I knew that you'd want to hear immediately," Malcolm said in a breathless voice.

"Oh? What was that?" Kate asked in surprise not having expected to hear anything like that.

That was when a man burst into her office and saluted her as he said, "I'll tell you myself, Ma'am. I'm Danny Pink and the woman that you call Clara Oswald isn't who you think that she is."

"Really? Exactly who is she then? Are you saying that she's not the real Clara?" Kate asked in confusion.

Danny began to tear up as he said in an emotional voice, "I wish that's what I was saying. No, the real truth is that there never really was a Clara. The person that I knew was a complete fake. I found out the real truth when she blew my Cyber body up with some kind of blast from a watch in her pocket. Clara Oswald is and always has been someone called the Master."

Kate's jaw dropped as she stared at him in a state of pure shock.

"Yeah, that's the reaction that your people had too. I'd still like to know why. Who is the Master?" Danny asked in a desperate voice.

"Malcolm, alert all of the proper authorities at once. Oh, and I don't care how many times that you have to try his number because he doesn't answer the phone. Call the Doctor!" Kate ordered.

Then she turned to Danny with a sad look on her face as she said, "Sit down, Mr. Pink. This is going to be a very long and painful conversation."

**Next: Let the fallout from this news commence! Will the Doctor and Osgood find out the truth? Or does the Doctor already know it anyway as the Master suspects? Why are they on Traken anyway? By the way, did any of you guess that the Cyberman that called out Clara's name in the first chapter was Danny?**


	4. The Gift of Self Awareness

CHAPTER 4

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, and reviews!

THE GIFT OF SELF AWARENESS

"Aren't you going to explore the planet with me, Clara? It looks beautiful," Osgood said in an excited voice.

"I – I really don't feel like it. I think I'll sit this one out if it's alright with you, okay?" The Master said.

Osgood looked at her in surprise as she said, "What's wrong? Are you feeling sick or something?"

"Yeah, I am. I've suddenly developed a really bad headache. So . . . I'll just go lie down in the TARDIS, alright?" The Master said.

"Nonsense, Clara. I'm sure that your headache will leave just as quickly as it came. Go on and enjoy yourself. Don't you want to see the beauty of this place? You really should go and take a look at it now while you still can. You never know when something may happen to it," The Doctor said with a cold look in his eyes.

The Master stared at him intently now because she was finally sure of it after that last comment. He knew. He had to know.

"What do you mean by that, Doctor?" Osgood asked as even she picked up on the hidden meaning behind the Doctor's words.

"I mean that all things have an ending, Osgood. Some of them end much sooner than they should though thanks to the heartless actions of others," The Doctor said.

"You mean something's going to happen to this place?" Osgood said in horror.

"Don't tell her any more, Doctor. You've already probably ruined the trip for her just by mentioning it as it is," The Master said before the Doctor could speak.

"No, it's alright. Clara's right though. I'd really rather not know any more about the future, Doctor," Osgood said.

"I understand. Sometimes I wish that I didn't know certain things myself. Ignorance really is bliss at times," The Doctor said as he briefly looked at the Master.

That was finally it for the Master. She decided to have it out with him right then and there. She was tired of dancing around the issue.

"Doctor, you know don't . . ." The Master started to say.

Then she was suddenly interrupted by a very young girl accidentally running into her. She had been running so hard that she had almost knocked the breath out of her. The little girl almost did worse than that to herself as she started to fall backwards after bouncing off of the Master. Luckily for her though the Master instinctively grabbed the girl tightly by the shoulders and stopped her from hurting herself from a hard fall to the ground.

"Whoa! Where's the fire, sweetheart?" The Master asked as she instinctively reacted like Clara would to the situation.

Then the Master's blood suddenly ran cold as a man that she recognized very well suddenly came running up to them with an embarrassed look on his face.

"I'm so sorry for this. I only turned my back for a moment, and she got away from me. I hope that she didn't bother you too much," The man that the Master already knew was named Tremas said in an apologetic tone.

She knew this because her past self had stolen his body when her original one was dying and had used it for years. Doing this had killed Tremas and left the little girl that she was now looking at an orphan. The little girl's name was Nyssa and one day she would become the Doctor's companion after the Master's actions completely ruined her life because he had done far more than just kill her father.

He had also destroyed this planet and every other one in this corner of the universe. He had not only made Nyssa into an orphan. He had also made her into the last of her kind.

All of that was still far into the future for this version of Nyssa though. She was smiling and carefree as she looked at her father with absolute adoration in her eyes. She immediately pulled away from the Master and clung to her father as he laughed at her antics.

The Master immediately started to tear up, and her body began convulsing into violent sobs as the full weight of what she had done finally hit her now like a jackhammer. She had ruined both of these people's lives along with so many others, and nothing that she would ever do could ever even begin to make up for that.

She was a monster and there was no redemption possible for her.

"Clara? What is it?" Osgood asked in shock as Tremas and Nyssa both looked at her in complete surprise.

"Is your friend well? Is there anything that I can do to help?" Tremas asked with concern.

This just made the Master weep even more violently as it emphasized how good a man that Tremas had been.

To her surprise, she suddenly felt a supportive hand on her shoulder and looked up to see the Doctor looking at her with a look of infinite sadness and sorrow. Even more surprising than that though, he was actually looking at her with sympathy.

"Yes, I'm afraid that my friend here is very sick. I had hoped that by bringing her here for a visit to this lovely world that I would make her feel better. I can see that I was wrong though. I'm sorry for bothering you," The Doctor quickly said.

Tremas nodded and looked at the Master with sympathy as he said, "I hope that you get better soon, Miss. I'm sorry if we made things worse for you somehow."

The Master shook her head violently as she said, "No, you didn't do anything. Don't worry about it. I'll be fine."

"Yes, she will. I'll make sure of it," The Doctor said as he gave her a pointed look that spoke volumes.

She already knew that look oh so well. She had seen it several times through the centuries. He was going to try to save her.

Only she wasn't sure that she was capable of being saved. She knew for certain that she didn't deserve to be.

It was already far too late for her now.

The Doctor's face said that he clearly thought otherwise though as he slowly led her back to the TARDIS while a confused Osgood tagged along behind them. The Master took one last look back at Nyssa as she slowly walked away from her and finally came to a decision in that moment.

As soon as the three of them were back in the TARDIS, the Master said, "I really am sorry now, Doctor. I'm sorry for everything."

The Doctor dematerialized the TARDIS without even looking at her as he said, "I know. I could tell that from the moment that you looked at Nyssa. The question is what are you going to do about those feelings?"

"What are you two talking about? Why do I feel like I'm deliberately being left out of this conversation?" Osgood asked in growing frustration.

The Master looked deeply into Osgood's eyes as she said, "That's because you are. I suppose that I should let you remember the truth now. I might as well. You will remember everything that I commanded you to forget now."

Osgood suddenly looked at the Master not with horror or anger like she had expected but with just as much if not more sympathy than the Doctor had showed to her. Then Osgood did something that completely took the Master aback.

She hugged her as she said, "I am so sorry."

"Sorry for what? I'm a monster, Osgood. You shouldn't be feeling sorry for me but for that poor child that we left back there instead. That was Nyssa. I know that you of all people will recognize that name and realize the full impact of my actions on her. She has to live with what I did to her for the rest of her life," The Master said in an extremely sad and forlorn voice.

"So do you," Osgood said.

"I deserve the pain. Nyssa doesn't," The Master said.

"She dealt with it very well, Koschei. She never let what you did ruin her life. She used her pain to help others instead," The Doctor said.

The Master smiled in approval at that as she said, "I'm glad to hear it, Doctor. Maybe that's a sign because that's what I want to do too."

Both the Doctor and Osgood looked at her in surprise even as the Doctor suddenly had an almost hopeful look in his eyes.

"What do you mean by that?" Osgood asked.

The Master looked at the Doctor as she answered, "I want to keep on doing exactly what we've been doing for the last few years, Doctor. I want to help people. I know that it won't redeem me in any way but that's not the point. This isn't about me. It's about making things right with the universe. If I do enough good in order to make up for all of the suffering that I caused, then it will make a huge difference. Maybe in some way I can actually balance things out by doing just as many good things as I did evil ones."

The Doctor actually smiled for once as he said, "You don't know how long that I've waited to hear that. I thought that I never would."

The Master looked at him with sad eyes as she said, "I'm sorry. So sorry. You've reached out to me so many times, Doctor, and I always threw it right back in your face. I didn't understand though. I really didn't even begin to see how you felt about the universe and what it was that you really valued until I became Clara. I finally understand you now, Theta. You once invited me to see the universe alongside you instead of trying to conquer it, and now that I actually have done that I finally realize what you were trying to tell me back then. It's beautiful out there, Doctor, and I'm not just talking about the natural wonders. The people are beautiful too and so are their lives. I learned that from both you and Danny. Everything about being Clara finally taught me exactly why it is that you do what you do, and I know now why I lost your friendship so long ago. It was my own fault. I drove a wedge between us myself. I want to fix that now if I can. I want my friend back, Theta. I want to travel alongside you and help you just like you've been asking me to do for so long now. Both of us working together can do so much good in the universe and . . . neither of us will ever have to be alone again."

She then wrapped her arms around the Doctor and hugged him tightly. Instead of complaining or acting as if he were bothered by this as he usually would the Doctor eagerly returned her hug with one of his own.

Then he did something that she had rarely seen this incarnation do. He started crying.

"I'm sorry," The Master said as she started to cry too now.

Osgood couldn't help but smile at the two old friends finally reconciling after so many centuries apart from one another. She had to admit that in her heart of hearts she had always wanted the Master to do exactly what she was doing now from the moment that she had read that the two of them used to be best friends in UNIT's files.

Then her heart dropped as she received a call from Kate on her cell phone. She realized then that Kate must know the truth already somehow and immediately froze. She didn't want to ruin the Doctor and the Master's last chance at reconciliation. She also didn't want to betray Kate who was not only her commanding officer but also her friend.

She didn't know what to do and so the phone continued to vibrate in her pocket as it rang over and over again while she hesitated to answer it. Then she finally made a decision and refused to answer it.

She was not going to ruin this for the Doctor.

When the phone finally stopped ringing then and only then did she finally pull it from her pocket. She could only hope that she hadn't just done the wrong thing as she saw that Kate had left her a voice mail.

Osgood walked off to a far corner of the Console Room unnoticed by either Time Lord who continued to hug one another as she played back Kate's message. She could instantly hear worry and concern in Kate's voice as she listened to it.

"Osgood, where are you? Please call me back immediately. Clara is the Master! Warn the Doctor at once but do it as discreetly as possible. Tell him to bring her back here, but don't let her know what's happening. Hopefully we can capture her without too much trouble. Call me back, Osgood. Let me know what's going on there," Kate said.

Osgood began to gasp for breathe now as she became extremely upset. She felt so torn in that moment. She really didn't know what to do now.

"Inhaler," The Master suddenly said behind her making her jump and look back at her with a guilty expression on her face.

"Use your inhaler, Osgood. Then when you can talk properly again call her back. Tell her that I'm turning myself in peacefully," The Master said.

"You knew? I thought that neither of you noticed," Osgood said in surprise after she used the inhaler.

"Time Lords have much more advanced hearing than a human's, Osgood. Both of us heard the message when you played it back," The Master admitted.

"Listen to me, Koschei. You can't do this," The Doctor said defiantly.

"I have to, Theta. If they find out that you're keeping me onboard, they'll be after you for the rest of your lives. I don't want to turn the entire Earth against you. It's better this way," The Master said.

"No," Osgood said.

"What?" The Master said in surprise as the Doctor began to smile.

"I said no. I'm not doing this to the Doctor . . . and I'm not doing it to you either. You're both my friends now and I'm not breaking you up like this just as soon as you've gotten back together again," Osgood said having finally made a final decision at last.

"What do you propose on doing about it then? You have to answer her back sooner or later, Inhaler Girl," The Master said.

"I know," Osgood said as she called Kate back and motioned for the Master to remain silent by putting a finger to her lips.

Kate immediately answered as she said, "Osgood, are you alright? Has she tried anything yet?"

Osgood took a deep breath and lied to Kate for the first time in her life as she said, "Clara is not the Master, Kate. The Master used one of her regenerations in order to make herself look just like Clara in order to fool us, but the Doctor caught onto her. There was a huge fight between them, but the Master escaped unfortunately. She could be anywhere now. Luckily we got the real Clara back safe and sound though. She had her onboard her TARDIS. She was going to use her to get the Doctor to give himself up for her. Luckily the Doctor turned the tables on her and rescued Clara anyway. We're all safe now, Kate, so don't worry, okay?"

Kate sounded relieved as she said, "Well, thank goodness for that. Be careful though, Osgood. The Master could return again at any time. Let me know if you need anything. I'll speak to you later."

After Kate hung up, Osgood let out a huge sigh of relief as she said, "She believed me. I was so afraid that she wouldn't. Great. Now I'm a big fat liar."

"Join the club. You're not really one of us until you start lying," The Doctor joked.

"That's not funny, Old Man. I'm sorry, Osgood. I almost feel like I'm corrupting you which was the absolute last thing that I ever wanted to do. For the record, I really appreciate what you did for me though, and I promise that you won't ever regret it. Not if I can help it anyway," The Master said.

The Doctor looked at her in surprise because she had looked and sounded exactly like Clara in every way in that moment. All of the Master's telltale signs were gone. He wondered if she had even noticed it.

"Thank you, Clara. I mean . . ." Osgood said.

The Doctor smiled at that gaffe as he realized that Osgood had obviously subconsciously noticed the change in the Master as well.

"It's alright. You can call me that. In fact, you'd both better get used to calling me that from now on even in private so that you don't accidentally slip up later on. You should both act just as you normally would if I was still Clara," The Master said.

"Right, Boss," The Doctor said.

The Master glared at him as the Doctor said, "I'm just following your advice."

The Master shook her head at him and smiled as she said, "Whatever, Old Man. So where are we going next? Please don't pick anywhere depressing again, Doctor. I think that all of us have done enough crying lately."

"Agreed. Why don't we go somewhere that Osgood will enjoy herself for her first real trip in the TARDIS since humans place so much importance on that sort of thing," The Doctor said as he entered new coordinates into the console.

"You know I think that you're really overdoing it with the humans stuff, Doctor. You're trying to make it sound as if you're grumpy, cold, and uncaring because you're an alien when I know the real truth about you," The Master said.

"What's that?" Osgood asked curiously.

"He's just a huge jerk," The Master said with a grin.

"So are you if you didn't notice. That's why we were best friends back on Gallifrey. No one else could stand us," The Doctor noted.

"Is that true?" Osgood asked.

The Master started laughing as she said, "It's sad to say it but that's very true, Osgood. I think the fact that we're both completely mad helped too."

"We're two of a kind as our old instructor, Borusa, used to say," The Doctor agreed.

"It kind of sounds like you made the perfect pair then," Osgood said.

"Yeah, we did once," The Doctor said.

"And now we do once again. Nothing is going to separate us this time, Doctor. From now on it's you and me saving the universe together just as it always should have been," The Master promised.

That was the very moment that the TARDIS finally landed. As soon as it did, they all heard a voice calling out for help.

The Doctor immediately opened the doors to find that the entire area around the TARDIS was covered in flames. Then a young woman rushed inside coughing and choking as she sought to get to safety.

"Hurry, take off! The entire building's going up!" The woman ordered.

The Doctor dematerialized immediately even as he wondered why the TARDIS had brought them there. He certainly hadn't picked wherever they had just wound up as his next destination. He had been trying to go to the planet Barcelona to show Osgood the dogs with no noses.

The TARDIS apparently had had other ideas.

"Thank you, Doctor. I owe you my life. That is you, isn't it? I know all about regeneration so I'm not as surprised by your new face as you might think," A familiar voice to both Time Lords said as the woman continued to cover her face while she struggled to regain her breath.

"Do you need an inhaler?" Osgood asked as she offered her hers.

"No, I'll be alright in a minute I think," The woman said as she finally stopped coughing so much.

Then the Master had to bite her tongue to keep from gasping out loud as the woman finally raised her face up from her hands to reveal that she was Lucy Saxon!

What is this? Is the universe against me already? The Master thought to herself in despair.

"Lucy Saxon!" Osgood said in shock as she tried not to look too much at the Master.

"Yes, that's me but I'm not as bad as you've heard. I was more a victim than anything else. My husband was the real villain behind everything, and on top of everything else that he did to me he just tried to kill me. When I see him again, I'm going to make him pay for everything that he's ever done to me," Lucy said in a bitter voice.

The Doctor and the Master both looked at one another in alarm as she said this. The Master was deeply conflicted over this turn of events. On the one hand, she was so glad that Lucy was alright because she had been harboring so much guilt over her. On the other hand though, she now had yet another person after her blood who could possibly see right through her even in her current body if she wasn't careful. Lucy knew her better than almost anyone after all so she was going to have to really work hard to hide her true self from now on if she wanted to survive.

Almost as if she could sense what she was thinking, Lucy looked right at the Master as she said, "You seem very familiar to me somehow. Have we met before?"

"No, I don't think so. I think I'd remember meeting the wife of the Prime Minister. My name's Clara. Clara Oswald," The Master said as she shook her hand with a warm smile.

Lucy smiled enthusiastically as she said, "It's nice to meet you, Clara. I'm sure that if the Doctor trusts you that I can too."

Then after Osgood introduced herself to her too, Lucy said, "It's nice to meet you too. I hope that I can trust all of you to keep the fact that I lived a secret. I want everyone to think that I died in that fire. I'm going to dye my hair and change my appearance so that I don't get recognized anymore. I'll think of a new name later. Could you drop me off somewhere where no one will have ever heard of me, Doctor?"

The Doctor looked relieved that Lucy wanted to go as he said, "Yes, that won't be a problem. I'll just give you a few minutes to change your look."

"Thank you, Doctor. I know that I don't deserve your help but thank you anyway," Lucy said with an appreciative smile.

Despite all of this though, the Master still wasn't convinced that she was out of the woods just yet. For one thing the Old Cow was notorious for not going where the Doctor wanted her to go, and she had gone out of her way to pick Lucy up. She couldn't help but wonder if the TARDIS still had it in for her because she had dismantled her back during The Year That Never Was.

From now on she was going to have to do more than just pretend to be Clara. She was going to have to act and think as much like Clara Oswald as possible as long as Lucy was around or she would quickly find out who she really was. She was going to have to actually think of herself as Clara or this would never work.

In order to keep herself safe, she knew that she was going to have to become Clara Oswald once more in every way that she could short of using the Chameleon Arch whether she liked it or not.

Oddly enough that thought really didn't bother her half as much as she thought that it would though.

Meanwhile back on Earth, as Danny Pink was told the news from Kate that Clara was alright and was a separate person from the Master he didn't react at all like she had expected. Instead of being happy, he appeared to still be deeply troubled by something.

"Isn't Clara being alright a good thing?" Kate asked in confusion.

"What? Oh, yes. Yes, of course it is," Danny said in an unconvincing tone.

Kate had no idea what he was so bothered about, but she didn't pry any further. Danny seemed to be too lost in his thoughts to talk to anyway at the moment.

Danny meanwhile was already wondering what he would do when Clara eventually did return. He still wasn't convinced that Osgood had been telling Kate the truth just yet. Something about her story just didn't sound right to him somehow.

Before Clara returned he was going to have to find some way of determining whether she really was Clara or not. He would never rest until he knew for sure.

**Next: Can the Master keep her true identity hidden from Lucy until she leaves? Will Lucy really leave that easily or will the TARDIS' next destination delay her departure indefinitely? Something tells me that it just might because I'm pretty sure that the TARDIS does indeed still have a huge grudge against the Master. Wouldn't you?**


	5. Facing the Past

CHAPTER 5

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, and reviews!

FACING THE PAST

While Lucy disappeared into one of the TARDIS' many bathrooms in order to change her appearance by cutting and dyeing her hair, The Master paced back and forth nervously in the Console Room. At that point, she actually found herself starting to babble with the Doctor about different recipes for soufflés which made her jaw drop once she realized what she was doing and caused the Doctor to actually smile at her for a moment.

"Just how long were you going to keep letting me go on like that, Old Man?" The Master said in an indignant tone.

"I wanted to see how long it took you to realize what you were doing," The Doctor said.

The Master smiled as she said, "I bet you just got a great big kick out of too didn't you?"

Osgood laughed as she said, "See? You really are Clara now. You did that automatically without even thinking about it."

The Master shook her head as she quickly corrected her, "I was Clara, Osgood. Some traces of her personality still remain behind and reappear from time to time. It's nothing more than that."

Osgood looked disappointed at that and the Master couldn't help but put her arm around her and say, "Don't worry, Inhaler Girl. That doesn't mean that I didn't learn a thing or two from being her."

As Osgood smiled at her in gratitude for her gesture of friendship, the Master realized that she had actually begun to care for the girl. It felt good to see a smile on her face because of her.

It felt good to see a smile on anyone's face because of her for that matter. It was quite a welcome change of pace from the misery that she usually brought instead.

"Clara, are you alright? You look really upset about something," Lucy's voice called out from behind her.

The Master turned to see that Lucy now looked completely different from the way that she had only moments earlier. In fact, she looked so different that even she barely recognized her now.

Lucy's once blonde hair had been dyed dark black and shaped into a flapper hairstyle with bangs that looked just like the kind that Clara had worn on the Orient Express. Her eyebrows had been dyed dark black as well to match.

Lucy had done even more than that to change herself however. Her very look itself was different. She had used heavy make-up to completely change the look of her face just enough where it would be extremely hard to tell that it was really her unless you were specifically looking for her and maybe not even then.

Finally Lucy had changed her usual fashion style and was now wearing simple blue jeans and a t-shirt. The previous Lucy Saxon wouldn't have been caught dead wearing such clothes since she had always been used to having the best of everything due to her family's vast fortune. This new look was perfect for her to hide herself with no matter where they dropped her off.

Lucy smiled as she said, "I take it from that long pause from all of you that I did a good job at hiding myself."

"I'd honestly never know it was you, Luce," The Master admitted with a shocked look on her face.

"None of us would and I don't think anyone else will be able to either. So where and when do you want me to take you? I assume that you want to stay in the early twenty-first century or am I wrong?" The Doctor asked.

Lucy now suddenly spoke with an Italian accent as she said, "Yes, Doctor, I want to stay in the same century. I just want to go forward a few years into my own future so that people will have already long forgotten about me but not too far ahead where I won't fit in anymore. Say the year 2015 maybe? Maybe you could drop me off in Italy? I always loved going there on holiday."

The Doctor nodded as he said, "You'll be there in a few minutes."

"Maybe. You never know when his driving's involved," The Master couldn't resist saying.

Lucy laughed as she said, "He's that bad is he?"

"You have no idea," The Master said with a chuckle.

She found herself actually enjoying talking to her and realized to her surprise that Lucy was enjoying it too. As far as Lucy knew they had only just met, and yet she was already talking to her like she was an old friend. They were quickly developing a relationship even as they spoke, and it was happening so easily that it was almost tempting to carry it on further just to see where it would go. The Master suddenly started to like that idea a lot in fact.

It would be nice to start over again with Lucy even if the most that she could ever have was a close friendship with her this time around without giving away her true identity. At least she could actually make a positive impact on her life for once.

She'd much rather have her look at her with a smile once again than with the look of pure hatred that she remembered from before. She'd much rather make her laugh than to ever cause her to cry again.

The Master could see the Doctor gave her a questioning look now out of the corner of her eye. She knew from centuries of being around him exactly what that look meant. He was wondering if she wanted him to help her talk Lucy into staying.

The Master really wasn't sure yet. She didn't how she felt to be honest about it. She'd certainly like for her to stay a little bit longer though so that she could find out.

The Master nodded at the Doctor and the Old Man immediately said, "Lucy, why don't you take a trip with us before you leave?"

"What?" Lucy asked as she suddenly whirled around to look at him in surprise.

"Well, you do have a time machine at your disposal. Wouldn't you like to take advantage of that and travel somewhere that you've always wanted to go? It could be the past, the future, or another world entirely. Most of your species would jump at a chance like that," The Doctor said.

Lucy's smile immediately faded and she said in a shaky voice, "I was already taken somewhere, Doctor . . . by Harry. He took me to the end of time and all I saw was devastation and darkness. I . . . I really don't want to travel anywhere else."

She suddenly began to start crying then and quickly said, "I'm sorry. That just brought back a lot of memories that I'd really rather forget."

"So that's a no then," The Doctor said in a completely emotionless voice as he went back to the console with no concern on his face whatsoever.

"Doctor," Osgood said in a disbelieving tone.

"What?" The Doctor asked as he looked at her in confusion.

"She just started crying right in front of you," Osgood said.

"And? I don't understand why that should concern me," The Doctor said.

The Master glared at the Doctor as she said, "She's upset, Doctor. Most people would want to comfort her."

The Doctor nodded as he said, "Ah, I see. I'm not very good at that kind of thing I'm afraid. Why don't one of you do it instead?"

"Well, it looks like we'll have to, won't we?" The Master said in an angry voice.

"No, don't make such a fuss over me, Clara. I'm alright," Lucy insisted as she did her best to calm herself down.

She gasped in surprise as the Master suddenly put her arms around her and held her close to her as she said, "No, you're not. You're just trying very hard not to show it because you're embarrassed at showing weakness in front of total strangers. Well, you don't have to be, Lucy. You're with friends here. You're safe. I promise."

Lucy looked at her in absolute surprise. How did she know that? How could she already read her emotions so quickly? She had only just met her.

Hadn't she?

She stared at who she thought was Clara Oswald intently for a moment while she tried to console her. There was something about her and the way that she moved and acted. Something that was almost . . . familiar to her in some way.

She couldn't put her finger on exactly how that could be though because she knew for certain that she had never met her before. So why did she feel almost from the moment that she had met her as if she had known her for years?

Who was this girl?

The Master smiled warmly at her as she said, "Are you alright now?"

Lucy nodded still looking confused as she said, "Yes, I'm much better now. It just kind of hit me all at once. Even now I still have moments where it just all gets to me out of the blue like that. I went through - Well, let's just say that it was a lot of unspeakable things and leave it at that, okay? Thank you for your sympathy though."

The Master nodded but still didn't let go of her causing Osgood to clear her throat loudly. The Master looked at her with incomprehension for a moment, and then she suddenly realized what she was doing and quickly let Lucy go with an embarrassed look on her face.

She had forgotten for a moment that Lucy didn't know who she was and would probably not understand why an almost perfect stranger had been holding her for so long.

"I'm sorry. I – I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I was just trying to make sure that you were alright," The Master said in a nervous voice.

Lucy smiled once again as she said, "I understand. It's okay, Clara. Don't worry about it."

The Master saw Osgood smiling at her sweetly and realized that the girl liked seeing her in this kind of vulnerable and uncertain state. She was probably feeling even more justified in her opinion that she was more Clara than Koschei these days because of it.

Then she saw the Doctor smirking and quickly shot him a dirty look. The Doctor immediately looked away from her but continued to have a small smile that the Master just wanted to slap off of his face so much in that moment.

"Oh, my stars! I really am still like Clara," The Master said under her breath as she realized that it was exactly how her human self would have felt about the situation.

The exclamation didn't help her any either.

"What?" Lucy asked with a frown.

"Nothing. I was just talking to myself. I do that . . . from time to time. I'm not a nutter though. Definitely not a nutter," The Master said quickly.

Lucy started to laugh and briefly hugged the Master as she said, "You're just as bad as I am, aren't you?"

"Not usually," The Master said in consternation.

She knew what it was of course. Lucy was making her nervous. She wasn't sure how to act around her now, and she didn't want to mess up their newly beginning relationship. She really wanted things to work out between them this time.

It would be her way of making it up to her for all of the rotten things that she had done to her in the past. Not that Lucy would ever realize that. Not if she could help it.

"Clara, why don't you just quit talking while you're ahead, okay?" Osgood said with a giggle as she gently pulled her away from Lucy.

"Yeah, you're probably right about that," The Master agreed as she suddenly felt like kicking herself very hard in that moment.

She glared at the Doctor once again as she heard what she thought was a low chuckle coming from his direction.

"Shut up, Skeleton Man!" The Master said with a frown.

As Lucy smiled at their antics, she realized in that moment that she felt almost happy now for the first time in a very long time. She was completely at ease around these people especially with Clara in a way that she hadn't been with anyone since before she met Harry. Was she really willing to let that go so quickly for an uncertain future all by herself?

Maybe she should stay just a little bit longer to see where traveling on the TARDIS led her?

All such thoughts were quickly interrupted though when Missy suddenly appeared inside the Console Room along with a woman who was glowing so brightly with energy that she almost blinded everyone who looked at her. They all had to quickly shield their eyes from her even as Missy's laughter reverberated through the TARDIS.

"Well, I have to admit that I really didn't think that would work, Bella. Trying to find one tiny little TARDIS in the middle of the Vortex like that should have been almost impossible. You made it look like child's play though. You really are getting better and better by the moment. Soon you'll be more than a match for Super Rose," Missy said with a grin.

The woman known as Nightshade frowned as she said, "If you felt that way about it, why did you agree to go along with me then?"

"Well, I make it a rule to always try everything at least once and if I don't survive it well . . ." Missy said trailing off with a shrug of her shoulders that was capped with an evil smile.

"You really are completely insane," Nightshade said as she shook her head at her.

The Master immediately confronted the two of them as she said to Missy, "How did you escape from Kate Stewart so quickly and who is your new friend? How many reject bins did you comb through before you dug her up?"

Missy looked at the Master in amusement as she said, "I wouldn't speak to my friend like that if I were you. She has a tendency to kill anyone who insults her. Very, very slowly."

"What is it that you want, Rani?" The Master said already tiring of this conversation.

"Rani?" Missy said as her laughter almost deafened them now in its sudden intensity.

"Oh, did I say something funny, Ushas?" The Master said in a furious voice.

"Clara, why don't you back away from her? I know you like to live dangerously but this might be one time when you might want to use caution," The Doctor said as his eyes quickly darted to a very confused looking Lucy and then back to the Master once more.

The Master realized that she had completely forgotten about Lucy and the fact that she was trying to hide her identity from her. Suddenly completely switching personalities right in front of her was probably not the best way of doing that.

"You're right, Doctor. Why don't I just let you handle it from here on out, okay?" The Master said.

"Why stop now, 'Clara'? You were doing such a great job of telling me off. I was enjoying it immensely. Only you got one thing wrong though. I'm not the Rani. I'm the Master, the Master of another reality. My friend here is from another universe too by the way. Say hi, Bella. I wouldn't try calling her Bella by the way. Only I'm crazy enough to do that. She prefers to be called Nightshade instead," Missy said with an insane grin.

The Master now looked at Missy in stunned disbelief as she said, "You're the Master?"

Missy nodded as she said, "That's right. Why so surprised, eh? It's not like you didn't do the exact same thing . . . Harry."

Missy grinned from ear to ear as Lucy gasped from behind the Master.

"Hello, Lucy. I thought that was you. Still looking good as ever I see, dear," Missy said.

The Master became filled with rage now as she glared at Missy for revealing her identity to Lucy so callously. She had just ruined her one and only chance at finally getting things right with her.

"What was this to you, Harry? Some kind of sick joke? Was that all I ever was to you? A joke?" Lucy said to the Master with tears streaming down her face.

"No, it wasn't like that. I . . . I was just trying to start all over again. I wanted to do things right this time," The Master said in an emotional voice.

Missy rolled her eyes and snorted in derision as she said, "Oh, not another one! What is it with all of you alternate universe mes and going soft anyway? Who's going to be afraid of me if you all go around giving me a good name like that? What's really disgusting to me the most though, even more so then the fact that you let your version of Inhaler Girl live, is that you're wearing Clara Oswald's face. Why of all people did you have to be her? It's like the multiverse itself is openly mocking me or something. All the more reason for me to bring it to its knees I think. Would you like to join me now that I've ruined any chance that you ever had with dear old Lucy here? It is what I came here for after all so you might as well take me up on my kind offer."

The Master almost growled at her as she said, "Take your offer and stick it, Evil Me. I'm never going to hurt anyone ever again. In fact, I'm going to do everything that I can to stop you now that I know what you're up to."

The Doctor smiled at the Master proudly and so did Osgood. Lucy just looked at her in incomprehension. She had no idea what to think now. This was the same Master who had made her life into a living nightmare and yet it wasn't. This version of the Master seemed to be completely different from the one that she knew before and not just in the obvious ways.

Could she really have changed that much from the person that she knew?

Missy frowned at the Master's response to her as she said, "Oh, you really shouldn't have said that. I really don't like doing anything to other versions of me because I love myself so much but in your case with that particular face on I'm more than willing to make an exception to my own rule."

She suddenly pulled what the Master recognized as a disintegration device out of one of her pockets and pointed it straight at her. She grinned with such devilish delight as she did so that the Master instantly knew that she was going to use it to kill.

"Oh, don't worry. I won't use this on you. That would end it all too quickly for you, and I can't have that. I want you to suffer first. I think I'll just correct that error that you made instead. That will be much better," Missy said as she suddenly moved the device away from Missy and pointed it at Osgood instead.

"I really do hope that you say something nice this time around, Inhaler Girl. The version of you in my reality was much too busy babbling in a misguided attempt to save herself when I killed her," Missy said as she smiled at a visibly frightened Osgood.

"Leave her alone," The Master said.

Missy laughed as she said, "Listen to you. 'Leave her alone.' You're become just like the Doctor now haven't you? You're pathetic. Alright then, 'Clara', if you don't want me to kill her, then someone else will have to die then. Someone's got to die after all. So who should it be, hmm?"

"Go ahead and kill me. I deserve it anyway. Just leave the rest of them alone," The Master said.

She knew that Missy wouldn't though. She knew her far too well to ever believe that she would do that. That's why she already had a plan formulating in her mind at that very moment.

"No, I won't kill you, 'Clara', because then you'd get out of things all too easily. I want you to suffer first for rejecting me. So with that in mind I think I'll kill . . . her," Missy said as she pointed the device directly at Lucy now.

"Don't!" The Master shouted in an alarmed voice causing Lucy to look at her in shocked surprise.

"That's right, dear, she actually cares about you. How about that? I know that if I kill you I'll be hurting her far more than I will if I kill the Doctor or Inhaler Girl. Who better to know that then me after all? Now go ahead and prepare yourself, Lucy. Are you ready now? Say something nice," Missy said as she prepared to fire.

The Master immediately dived in front of her while simultaneously pushing her safely to the ground. Missy's blast went off in that very same moment and headed straight towards the Master. She knew then in that moment that she was going to die, and she really regretted that it had to be this way with so much left unresolved and unfixed in her life.

Then just before the blast hit her a force field immediately surrounded her and safely absorbed it. The Master looked on in disbelief now as yet another glowing woman entered the room in a burst of golden Vortex energy.

"Rose," The Doctor said in a hushed tone of reverence.

The Rose Tyler of Nightshade's dimension waved at him with a warm smile as she said, "Hello, Doctor. Glad to see me?"

"Always," The Doctor admitted as he began to have an uncharacteristic smile spread all over his face at the mere sight of her.

"Now there'll be none of that, Doctor. I'm already married to another you," Rose said as she teased him.

"Heel, boy," The Master added with a chuckle as she suddenly began to feel that everything was alright now for some reason.

"You just made the biggest mistake of your life by coming here, Rose. I've finally gotten you all alone now without any of your friends around to help you. Not that they really stood a chance anyway," Nightshade said as she began to glow with energy while preparing to attack her.

"You don't have me here for long, Bella. Even I'm not mad enough to stick around long enough for you to kill me. I'll just be taking who I came here for back home with me then and move on out of your way, yeah? See ya!" Rose said as she snapped her fingers.

Suddenly she, the Master, and all of the other members of the TARDIS crew all vanished in a shower of golden energy leaving Missy and Nightshade standing all alone in the Console Room. Missy shook her head at first with a furious look on her face, and then she suddenly burst out laughing.

"What do you find so funny about this? She got away before I could even touch her, and she took the other you with her. This is what we call losing where I come from, Koschei. That's widely considered a bad thing," Nightshade said.

Missy nodded as she said, "You really have to admire Miss Tyler's style though even if you do hate her guts, Bella. She's almost as mad as me."

"I don't think that's even possible," Nightshade said with a frown.

"Let's go. She can only delay the inevitable so long anyway, Bella. Her final reckoning is coming soon enough now and then I'll kill her, the other me, and her precious Lucy all at the same time. I'll get Inhaler Girl too. Just for not getting to kill her this time, I'm making it my personal mission to kill every one of her in every reality from now on," Missy promised.

"Osgood," Nightshade said in an annoyed voice.

"What?" Missy asked.

"That's her name. Quit calling her Inhaler Girl and use her name instead. It's very irritating to hear you keep saying that stupid nickname for her," Nightshade said.

"Osgood? Is that her name? You know I actually forgot it. And you know what? I'll probably forget it again too," Missy said with a chuckle.

"Let's just go," Nightshade said in disgust as the two of them vanished from the ship in a burst of energy.

The Master now found herself and the others in what her time sense was telling her was another reality as Rose began to tell her why she had brought them there.

"So I assume from the comments that you just made to Missy that I'm not the only Doctor that you've taken from another universe, Rose," The Doctor said.

Rose nodded as she said, "That's right. I came to you to get your help just like I'm doing to the yous in every other reality to help me fight with Missy and Nightshade. They're going to kill all of you anyway so I figure that we should all make our last stand against them here in my universe together. We've got much better odds with us all fighting at once than separately, yeah?" Rose said.

"I agree. It's a brilliant plan, Rose. Gathering all of the most brilliant minds in the multiverse together to let them sort it all out is pure genius. So how many of me are there?" The Doctor asked smugly.

"Oh, boy! Your ego really does know no bounds, does it? Somehow I don't think she's just recruiting you and the other Doctors," The Master said as she rolled her eyes at him.

"No, I'm recruiting the other versions of everyone else that I trust too including the better versions of the Master," Rose said as she smiled at the Master.

"Missy's trying to gather the not so great versions of me too, isn't she?" The Master asked with a frown.

"Yeah, she is. We'll probably be facing a lot of different yous before the end comes," Rose admitted in a sad voice.

"Good," The Master said.

"Good? What's good about that?" Osgood asked in disbelief.

"Now I finally have a target for all of that self-hate that I've been carrying around," The Master said in a completely serious voice.

The Doctor looked at her sympathetically as he placed a hand on her shoulder. Then to the Master's complete surprise, she felt Lucy's hand grabbing hers.

She turned to see Lucy smiling at her hesitantly. Lucy wanted to believe her. She was going to give her a second chance even if she wasn't completely sure about it yet.

The Master became filled with absolute joy and gave Lucy a quick kiss on the side of the mouth as she said, "Thank you. You won't regret it. Not for a second."

"That's assuming that we survive long enough to regret anything of course," Lucy said in a voice that was trying to sound brave but that had a clear tinge of fear to it.

The Master couldn't help but wonder just how much of that was fear of Missy and how much was fear of her. She wasn't sure that she wanted to know the answer to that.

**Next: The final battle with Missy and Nightshade will be told in its own mini-series very soon now and will include the cast of this story alongside those who are ready to fight for the very freedom of the universe against them. Next time in this story will feature the aftermath of that horrible battle and its effects on our cast. Plus we'll see further developments in the relationship between the Master and Lucy. Will Lucy finally start to trust the Master once more? More importantly, will she decide to stay on the TARDIS now that she knows the truth about her? Oh, and we'll finally have a proper adventure at last because Osgood really deserves one.**


End file.
